The Great Reduction: Solomon Seeks the Key to Peace

By Jay Trott

What is the secret to happiness?
King Solomon was one of the greatest superachievers of all time and fabulously wealthy. He also had a reputation as the wisest man in the world. But at the end of his life he was so unhappy that he felt moved to cry out "all is vanity" and wish he had never been born. In Ecclesiastes, Solomon brilliantly diagnoses the causes of our continuing unhappiness and boils down the secret of peace and contentment to a few essential ingredients. The Great Reduction explains why his prescription for peace is just as relevant today as the day it was written. It also uses his diagnosis to shed light on a happiness that goes far beyond anything Solomon could have imagined.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wipf and Stock
• Release date: Aug 12, 2020
• ISBN: 9781725264809

Jay Trott

Jay Trott is a medical writer, conductor, and composer. He is the author of a book of dialogues called At Smith's House: The Quest for Meaning in a Postmodern Age.

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The Great Reduction

solomon seeks the key to peace

Jay Trott

THE GREAT REDUCTION

Solomon Seeks the Key to Peace

Copyright ©

2020

Jay Trott. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf and Stock Publishers,

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Wipf & Stock

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paperback isbn: 978-1-7252-6478-6

hardcover isbn: 978-1-7252-6479-3

ebook isbn: 978-1-7252-6480-9

Manufactured in the U.S.A.

August 12, 2020

Table of Contents

Title Page

Acknowledgments

THE GREAT REDUCTION

Vanity, vanity, all is vanity

What does a man gain by all the toil with which he toils under the sun?

A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever.

The sun also rises, and the sun goes down.

The wind returns again according to his circuits.

The rivers run into the sea, and yet the sea is never full.

All things are full of labor; man cannot utter it.

The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.

The thing that has been is that which shall be.

Is there anything of which it might be said, See, this is new?

There is no remembrance of former things.

I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem.

And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven.

A sore travail to fatigue themselves with.

I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.

That which is crooked cannot be made straight.

That which is wanting cannot be numbered.

Behold, I have come to greatness, and have more wisdom than all who went before me in Jerusalem.

I gave myself to know wisdom and madness and folly, and I perceived that this too is vexation of spirit.

For in much wisdom is much grief, and he that increases knowledge increases sorrow.

I said in my heart, go to; now I will prove you with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure.

I made me great works.

I got myself servants and maidens, and many servants were born in my house.

I also possessed more cattle, great and small, than any in Jerusalem before me.

So I was great and increased more than all who had been in Jerusalem before me.

Also my wisdom remained with me.

And whatsoever my eyes desired I did not keep from them.

Then I looked at all the things my hands had made, and all the labor I had labored to do, and look you now: it was vanity and vexation of spirit.

And behold, Solomon was naked.

Then I turned to behold wisdom and madness and folly; for what can a man do that comes after the king?

Then I saw that wisdom exceeds folly as light exceeds darkness.

The wise man’s eyes are in his head, while the fool walks in darkness; but I also perceived that one event happens to them all.

For there is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool forever; since all that is now shall in the days to come be forgotten.

I hated the labor I had done under the sun because I would have to leave it to the man who comes after me; and who knows if he will be a wise man or a fool?

I turned to cause my heart to despair regarding all the labor I had undertaken under the sun.

For there is a man whose labor is in wisdom and knowledge and equity; yet to a man that has not labored in these things he shall leave it for his portion.

For what does a man have for all his labor, all the vexation of his heart, in which he has labored under the sun? All his days are sorrows, his travail grief; his heart does not take rest at night. This is also vanity.

There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labor.

For who can eat, or who else can hasten here, more than I?

For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy.

But to the sinner he gives travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good before God. This also is vanity and vexation of spirit.

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.

What profit has he who works in that in which he labors?

I have seen the travail that God has given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.

He has made everything beautiful in its time.

He has set eternity in their heart.

No man can find out the work that God made from the beginning to the end.

I know that there is no good in them but for a man to rejoice and to do good in his life.

And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labor; it is the gift of God.

I know that, whatever God does, it shall be forever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God does it in order that men should fear before him.

That which has been is now; and that which is to be has already been; and God requires that which is past.

And moreover I saw under the sun that there was wickedness in the place of judgment and iniquity in the place of righteousness.

I said in my heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.

I said in my heart concerning the estate of the sons of Adam, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.

For that which befalls men also befalls beasts; as one dies, so dies the other.

Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?

So I returned and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: see the tears of the oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power, but they had no comforter.

Therefore I praised the dead which are already dead more than the living which are yet alive.

Yes, better off than both of them is he who has not yet been, who has not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.

Again, I considered all travail, and every right work—and for this a man is envied of his neighbor. This is also vanity and vexation of spirit.

The fool folds his hands together, and eats his own flesh.

Better is a handful with quietness than both hands full with travail and vexation of spirit.

Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun.

There is one alone, and there is not a second; indeed, he has neither child nor brother: yet is there no end of all his labor; neither is his eye satisfied with riches; and neither does he say, For whom do I labor and bereave my soul of good? This is also vanity, yes, it is a sore travail.

Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labor.

For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falls; for he does not have another to help him up.

Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm?

And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished.

For out of prison he comes to reign, while he that is born in his kingdom [born a king] becomes poor.

I considered all the living who walk under the sun, with the second child that shall stand up in his stead. There is no end of all the people, even of all that have been before them: and they that come after shall not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and vexation of spirit.

Keep your foot when you go into the house of God, and be more ready to hear than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they do not consider that they do evil.

Do not be rash with your mouth, and do not let your heart be hasty to utter anything before God: for God is in heaven, and you are on earth: therefore let your words be few.

For as a dream comes through the multitude of business, so a fool’s voice is known by a multitude of words.

When you make a vow to God, do not delay in paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you have vowed. It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay.

Do not allow your mouth to cause your flesh to sin; and do not say before the angel that it was an error: so why should God be angry at your voice and destroy the work of your hands? For in the multitude of dreams and many words there are also many vanities: but you, fear God.

If you see the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, do not marvel at the matter: for he that is higher than the highest is watching; and there are higher than they.

He that loves silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loves abundance with increase: this is also vanity.

When goods increase, they are increased that eat them: and what good is there to the owners thereof, saving the beholding of them with their eyes?

The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether he eats little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep.

There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners to their hurt. But those riches perish by evil travail: and he has a son, and there is nothing in his hand.

As he came forth of his mother’s womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labor that he may carry away in his hand.

Look what I have seen: it is good and comely for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labor that he undertakes under the sun all the days of his life, which God gives him: for it is his portion.

Every man also to whom God has given riches and wealth, and has given him power to eat and to take his portion and to rejoice in his labor; this is the gift of God. For he shall not much remember the days of his life; because God answers him in the joy of his heart.

There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men: A man to whom God has given riches, wealth, and honor, so that he wants nothing for his soul of all that he desires, yet God does not give him the power to eat thereof, but a stranger eats it: this is vanity, and it is an evil disease.

If a man begets a hundred children, and lives many years, so that the days of his years be many, and his soul is not filled with good, and also that he has no burial; I say, that an untimely birth is better than he. For he comes in with nothingness and departs in darkness, and his name will be covered with darkness. Moreover he has not seen the sun, or known anything: this has more rest than the other.

Yes, even if he lives a thousand years twice over, yet has seen no good: for do not all go to one place?

All the labor of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled. For what has the wise more than the fool? What has the poor, that knows to walk before the living? Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire: this is also vanity and vexation of spirit.

That which has been is named already, and it is known that it is man: nor can he contend with him that is mightier than he. Since there are many things that increase his vanity, what is man the better?

For who knows what is good for man in this life, all the days of his vain life which he spends as a shadow? For who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?

A good name is better than precious ointment.

And the day of death [is better] than the day of one’s birth.

It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart. Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.

It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the song of fools. For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool: this too is vanity.

Surely oppression makes a wise man mad.

And a gift destroys the heart.

Better is the end of a thing than the beginning of it: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.

Be not hasty in your spirit to be angry: for anger rests in the bosom of fools.

Do not say, What is the reason that former days were better than these? For you do not enquire wisely concerning this.

Wisdom is good with an inheritance: and by it there is profit to them that see the sun. For wisdom is a defense, and money is a defense: but the excellency of knowledge is that wisdom gives life to those who have it.

Consider the work of God: for who can make that straight, which he hath made crooked?

In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider: God has set the one over against the other, to the end that man should find nothing after it.

All things I have seen in the days of my vanity: there is a just man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his wickedness. Be not over-righteous; and do not make yourself over-wise: why should you destroy yourself? Be not over-wicked, neither be a fool: why should you die before your time?

It is good that you should take hold of this and also from this not withdraw your hand: for he that fears God shall come forth of them all.

Wisdom strengthens the wise more than ten mighty men in the city.

For there is not a just man upon earth who does good and does not sin.

Also take no heed to all words that are spoken, lest you hear your servant curse you. For oftentimes your own heart knows that you likewise have cursed others.

All this have I proved by wisdom: I said, I will be wise; but it was far from me. That which is far off, and exceeding deep, who can find it out?

I applied my heart to know, and to search, and to seek out wisdom, and the reason of things, and to know the wickedness of folly, even of foolishness and madness.

And I find more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and nets, and her hands as bands: he who pleases God shall escape from her; but the sinner shall be taken by her.

Behold, this have I found, says the preacher, counting one by one, to find out the account—which my soul still seeks and does not find—one man among a thousand have I found; but a woman among all those have I not found.

This only have I found, that God has made man upright; but they have sought out many new things.

Who is like the wise man? Who knows the interpretation of a thing? A man’s wisdom makes his face to shine, and the boldness of his face shall